I am trying to make an Arda Minion deck.
So, I wanted to know if special rules are in effect.
For example, I plan to make a special deck with magic cards and ringwraith cards (unleashed, mode cards...).
Other ideas ?

i have put together a minion arda some time ago. i played once and we started with a ringwraith in black rider mode (which was always in play).
some randomly chosen mode card sounds fine as well (maybe change it each round?)

I've been interested in seeing a workable Minion Arda deck for some time. My understanding is that these decks can be quite boring, though.

I think one solution is to fully embrace the minion Virtual Cards from Virtual Set 1. Either go with Wolfgang's approach, and/or have each player get one of his RW's "Unleashed" card in his starting hand. Basically some of these RWS need to be seriously bolstered and only allowing a starting unleashed card will help. I mean the virtual unleasheds, by the way.

This will be a start. After Minion ARDA becomes more playtested, you will probably find that some new cards need to be made altogether (meaning, ARDA-only cards with new text). Then someone like you or Thorsten can make them.

My Minion Arda deck is not finished. I have not all the cards I need (mainly, Lidless Eye rares are missing).
But I know all the cards I want to use :
- Characters : 2 of each (but no agents)
- MP Resource deck : 202 cards
- "Whisper of the Rings" deck : 40 cards
- Minor Items deck : 51 cards
- Magic and Ringwraith cards : 95
- non MP Resources : 240 cards
- Hazards : 240 cards (120 creatures, 120 events)
Some of my ideas :
- the "Whisper of the Rings" deck : 3 rings cards are always available
- Magic and Ringwraith cards are in a special pile. When you draw cards, you can take them in the normal resources/hazards pile, or draw in this special pile, if you want to use a Magic or/and Ringwraith strategy
Not yet decided :
- may be include the agents (as characters)
- the idea of Wolfgang (start with the Ringwraith in Black Rider mode) seems interesting
- allow 25 GI for controlling characters

For now, I am not interested to include virtual or new cards. I prefer to test with normal cards.
But, unfortunately, I have not many occasions to play !

dominique is right: it was not an unleashed card, but black rider.
the idea was to have an active ringwraith. i would also like to see heralded lord and fell rider in action. so what about having all 3 mode cards from the very start with your ringwraith. the players decides which one is used for the next turn.

It's is without rares, but I think it's quite boring, because the the most of magiccards are rare and you have not so much cards like hero-deck (more expansions there).
It's is not playtested. My hazards are also not so hard that you can get some MP per turn.

If you have ideas for a good ARDA-Deck. Let me know.

The Ideas with starting-Ringwraith-mode card and special magic card-pile sounds good.
The Problem is that you only draw from the special magic card pile. Maybe you need a limit to draw.

Just wanted to post a note here that I'm in the process of finally creating a Nine Ringwraith Area deck. We are in the process of constructing it right now and will begin play testing it later this year. It involves all Ringwraiths having access to any of the three modes while at and we begin with a Prone to Violence in play (and two other copies shuffled into the massive deck.
When you draw a ring and take it somewhere for testing, you draw three from a special Ring deck and if any of those match the role, you get that kind of ring.

Overall Goals: There are two primary goals that have been achieved in our Hero version of the Arda deck (see Gandalf Gene’s Arda on this forum) and I’m hoping to come close to matching them. These goals are of equal importance, even though they have to be listed in a sequence. They should be thought of as two goals sitting on either side of a balanced scale. They are of equal importance.
• This Dark Arda game must be able to successfully teach most of the rules of a regular Middle Earth Lidless Eye game. For this reason we try not have a lot of exception rules and we do not make special text for the cards just for this game. We try to use the rules and existing errata on cards as much as we can.
• This Dark Arda game must be fun and in the spirit of the game. This game would be diminished greatly if some cards were not included in the game. Therefore, some special rules have to be made in order to allow access to these cards.
To illustrate how I’ve tried to achieve balance between these two goals, I’m going to discuss the three modes cards that allow Ringwraiths to travel around the map (Heralded Lord, Black Rider and Fell Rider). If I was strictly following the rules, three versions of each of those mode cards would be shuffled into the huge deck. That would mean most players would never have access to them or the ability to shift their Ringwraith into one of those modes. That doesn’t sound like much fun or keeping in the spirit of the game. So instead, I opted to give each Ringwraith a copy of each of the mode cards. They are able take on one of those modes during the organization phase at a Dark Haven. If they want to switch into another mode, they must first travel back to a Dark Haven to do so.
This is a case where people can still get a sense of how the regular game is played, but the enjoyment of the game is upheld.
Game Format
Dark Arda is a MECCG game for 2 to 9 players. Each player is assigned the role of one of the nine rulers of mortal men who were corrupted by a ring gift from Sauron and are now his undead servants.
This version of the game consists of several decks: a 117-card Minion Deck containing all minions and Agents who are playable as minions; a 186-card Marshalling Point Deck containing card that give you victory points in this game; a 50-card Ring Deck that represent all the various kinds of magic rings that can be tested for in Middle Earth Lidless Eye; a 58-card Minor Item Deck; and finally a massive 694-card Play Deck, which includes 288 minion resource cards, 236 hazard event cards and 170 hazard creature cards.
Resource Cards: The vast majority of the minion resources come from Lidless Eye with most of the card pool being thrown in. One notable series or cards that are not included are any of the Ringwraith Unleashed cards. Some of the Unleashed cards are powerful while others are useless in this environment. That and the odds of seeing a card you need being small, led to the decision not to include any of them.
Hazards: The vast majority of these kinds of cards come from the Lidless Eye set, but there are a few from every set including METW and METD. The hazard strategy focuses on men, elves, dwarves, Maiar and drakes with spiders and spawns thrown in. No dragon cards are included but most drakes are.
Site Deck: This game uses no Underdeep sites.
The Game Starts
We start Dark Arda in a slightly different order than other Arda games.
Step 1: Select Ringwraiths
Each player selects a Ringwraith to play. Once each player has had an opportunity to select their Ringwraith, the Ringwraiths with abilities to make other Ringwraiths their followers get to make their selection. The Witch King makes his first pick first, followed by Khamul and then back to the Witch King if there are still selections available. Any remaining Ringwraiths are set aside in the event they can be played later in the game.
Step 2: Drafting Characters
First, each player receives a copy of one major Minion or Agent Minion character with 7 Mind or greater. If there are four or fewer players, each player can be given two of these characters each. Second, each player is given two characters of 6 mind. Once all of the characters have been distributed the remaining larger characters are shuffled in with all the small characters and then each player is given 10 characters to complete their draft pool.
Step 3: Determine Turn Order and Draft Minor Items
Once the draft pool is distributed, all players roll dice to determine who is going first. If you are playing with a group of 5 to 7 players, we play with two players going first simultaneously (thee player simultaneously if there are 8 or 9 players). This will be explained in a different part of the rules. Once first player(s) have been determined, then those who are considered last player(s) are given first chance to pick all of his starting party (or parties) minor items or permanent cards that can be played instead of minor items for their drafted characters. Selections continue in reverse order until all players have made picks from what is available. All unselected minor items and permanent cards are now shuffled into the Minor Item deck.
Step 4: Verify Starting Parties and create Roving Character Deck. All starting parties are to be checked before the game begins to make sure they are legal. The rules restricting Agents to one of their home sites at the start of the game is in effect (unless the player of that Agent also was able to select Open to the Summons instead on an opening item). Similarly, two characters with the Leader trait cannot be together in their opening party without using Order from Lugburtz. Players who make a mistake in drafting may make adjustments to their starting companies using their draft pool cards. Once all starting parties have been verified as valid, all undrafted character cards are shuffled and placed in a Roving Character deck.
Step 5: Draw Your Hands
Each player now draws their two hands, one is a hand of 8 cards from the Player Deck. This is called your Player Hand. The other hand is made up of 5 cards from the Marshalling Point Deck. It is called your Treasure Hand. Everyone is now ready to begin playing!
Special Rules During Play
Unused General Influence Rule
In regular Lidless Eye play there is a rule that says each player has 5 general influence in addition to the starting 20 which cannot be used to control any characters. This rule remains in effect while playing Dark Arda.
Simultaneous Turns Rules
For information on how to run the game with two or three active players simultaneously, see pages 5 and 6 of the regular Arda rules.
Prone To Violence Rule
At the beginning of the game, a copy of the Minion Resource card Prone To Violence is considered to be in play. This means that any company that does not contain a Ringwraith is allowed to attack other companies that don’t contain a Ringwraith. When someone draws an actual copy of the card, that person may immediately place the card into the general environment area and draw a new card to replace it. If someone removes Prone To Violence from play, attacking others is no longer an option until a new copy can be played from the Play Deck. You cannot play cards targeting and removing a Prone To Violence card from play until someone actually places the card into play.
Ringwraith Mode Rules
I mentioned this rule earlier. Each Ringwraith receives a copy of the three mode cards which can be played on it while at a Dark Haven. Changing from one mode to another requires being at a Dark Haven. The Ringwraith can by use any mode as many times as they want.
Follower Ringwraith Rules
Certain Ringwraith abilities and some resource cards allow Ringwraith cards not being used by players to be used as followers. In all cases, the Witch King gets to make his selection first. Once he and Khamul have made all of their selections, any additional Ringwraiths can become followers to other players who play the resources necessary to recruit them. Follower Ringwraiths are not allowed in a starting company. One can be brought in on the first turn using the standard rules for adding characters to a party. Until Ringwraith followers are brought into play, they sit in the Player Hand taking up space that would otherwise be occupied by another card.
Whispers of Rings and The Ring Deck
In Dark Arda, rings are very important things. They should also be very fun things to chase after. For these reasons we are playing with the card Whispers of Rings as an option in the minor item deck. Whispers of Rings is a permanent event available instead of minor item at the beginning of the game that allows the player who chooses it to play up to two rings underneath it.
A player who selects Whispers instead of a minor item as one of their beginning items in Step 3 of The Game Starts, may, in Step 5, draw 2 cards from the Rings Deck and 3 cards from the Marshaling Points Deck, instead of their normal 5 cards from the Marshaling Points Deck at the beginning of the game. Both of those drawn ring cards may immediately be played under the Whisper card on the first turn. However, this player does not refill his Marshalling Points hand as normal until the end of his or her first turn as an active player.
Any Whisper of Rings cards that are not selected in the opening draft are shuffled back in to the Minor Item Deck and can be acquired from there as though it was a minor item (tap a minion character at a site where a minor item is playable. Put Whispers of Rings into play unattached to a character. The player can then choose to draw from the Ring Deck when they would normally draw from the Marshalling Points Deck and place the rings drawn under the Whisper card. Do not refill your Treasure Hand until the end of your next active player turn.
During the normal course of play, players will acquire rings that they wish to test from the Marshalling Points Deck. Once a player tests a ring, that player makes a roll then turns over the top 4 rings of the Ring Deck. He or she may exchange the tested ring for any one of the revealed cards that applies. If the testing player also has a Whisper of Rings card in play, he can check those saved rings for a match as well. If there are no matches, the tested ring is discarded. After resolving a ring test the cards from the Ring Deck which were not selected are shuffled back into the Ring Deck. The unselected cards under a Whispers card remain there.
Sudden Call Rule Finally each player is considered to have a copy of Sudden Call in their hand. This card remains in everyone’s hand until one player uses it to start the last turn. Sudden Call can be played as a resource by someone who has reached 25 marshaling points, or as a hazard when an opponent reaches 25 marshaling points.

Thanks for cleaning up the spreadsheet CCG Collector. That was a great help.
Ha ha yeah the deck is not a cheap one. It helps that I started collecting in 1995 and I've had a complete players set since 2000. I use photo copied proxies of my cards for all rare cards and all Balrog cards.
We gave the deck its first test run tonight with three players: The Witch King with followers Ren and Dwar; Khamul with follower Indur and Adunaphel with follower Uvatha. We all played nice and had all of our companies avoid each other the whole game.
Khamul ended up winning after finding one of the Dwarven rings at Beorn's house while his Orcs recruited men and orc factions in the southeast corner of the map.
Not sure yet about the hazard card mix. The 700 card deck was not the easiest thing to shuffle and my first 8 cards were one resource and 7 hazards (creatures and events).
Hoping to get one or two more sessions in August and then bring it to the Gateway Convention in Los Angeles on labor day weekend.

I've revised the rules and tips document based upon our first experience from play testing.
DARK ARDA
Overall Goals: There are two primary goals that have been achieved in the Hero version of the ARDA deck (see Gandalf Gene’s Arda on this forum) and I’m hoping to come close to matching them. These goals are of equal importance, even though they have to be listed in a sequence. They should be thought of as two goals sitting on either side of a balanced scale. They are of equal importance.
• This DARK ARDA game must be able to successfully teach most of the rules of a regular Middle Earth Lidless Eye game. For this reason we try not have a lot of exception rules and we do not make special text for the cards just for this game. We try to use the rules and existing errata on cards as much as we can.
• This DARK ARDA game must be fun and in the spirit of the game. This game would be diminished greatly if some cards were not included in the game. Therefore, some special rules have to be made in order to allow access to these cards.
To illustrate how I’ve tried to achieve balance between these two goals, I’m going to discuss the three Ringwraith modes cards that allow them to travel around the map (Heralded Lord, Black Rider and Fell Rider). If I was strictly following the rules, three copies of each of those mode cards would be shuffled into the huge deck. That would mean most players would never have access to them or the ability to shift their Ringwraith into one of those modes. That doesn’t sound like much fun or in keeping with the spirit of this fine game. So instead, I opted to give each Ringwraith a copy of each of the mode cards. They are able assume one of these modes during the organization phase if located at a Darkhaven. If they want to switch into another mode, they must first travel back to a Darkhaven to do so.
This is a case where people can still get a sense of how the regular game is played, but the enjoyment of the game is upheld.
Game Format
DARK ARDA is a game cube MECCG game for 2 to 9 players! Each player is assigned the role of one of the nine rulers of mortal men who were corrupted by a ring gift from Sauron and are now his undead servants.
This version of the game consists of several decks: a 117-card Random Character Deck containing all Minions and Minion Agents; a 186-card Marshalling Point Deck containing card that give you victory points in this game; a 50-card Ring Deck that represent all the various kinds of magic rings that can be tested for in Middle Earth Lidless Eye; a 61-card Minor Item Deck; and finally a massive 664-card Main Player Deck, which includes 288 Minion Resource cards, 209 Hazard Event cards and 167 Hazard Creature cards. A Minion Location Deck without any Underdeep locations is also used when playing DARK ARDA.
Resource Cards: The vast majority of the minion resources come from Middle Earth: Lidless Eye with most of the card pool being thrown in. One notable series or cards that are not included are any of the Ringwraith Unleashed cards. Some of the Unleashed cards are powerful while others are useless in this environment. That and the odds of seeing a card you need being small, led to the decision not to include any of them.
Hazards: The vast majority of these kinds of cards come from the Lidless Eye set, but there are a few from every set including ME: The Wizards and ME: The Dragons. The hazard strategies included in the Main Player Deck include: men, elves, dwarves, Maiar and drakes with spiders and spawns thrown in for good measure. No dragon cards are included but most drakes are.
The Game Starts
We start DARK ARDA in a slightly different order than other Arda games.
Step 1: Select Ringwraiths
Each player selects a Ringwraith to play. Once each player has had an opportunity to select their Ringwraith, the Ringwraiths with printed abilities to make other Ringwraiths their followers get to make their selection. The Witch King makes his first pick first, followed by Khamul and then back to the Witch King if there are still selections available. Any remaining Ringwraiths are set aside in the event they can be played later in the game.
Step 2: Drafting Characters
First, each player receives a copy of one major Minion or Minion Agent character with 7 Mind or greater (there are a total of 9 in the game). If there are four or fewer players, each player can be given two of these characters each. Second, each player is given two characters of 6 mind. Once all of the characters have been distributed the remaining larger characters are shuffled in with all the small characters and then each player is given 9 characters at random to complete their draft pool.
Step 3: Determine Turn Order and Draft Minor Items
Once the draft pool is distributed, all players roll dice to determine who is going first. If you are playing with a group of 5 to 7 players, we play with two players going first simultaneously (thee player simultaneously if there are 8 or 9 players). This will be explained in a different part of the rules. Once first player(s) have been determined, then those who are considered last player(s) are given first chance to pick all of his starting party (or parties) minor items or permanent cards that can be played instead of minor items for their drafted characters. Selections continue in reverse order until all players have made picks from what is available. All unselected minor items and permanent cards are now shuffled into the Minor Item deck.
Step 4: Verify Starting Parties and create Roving Character Deck. All starting parties are to be checked before the game begins to make sure they are legal. The rules restricting Agents to one of their home sites at the start of the game is in effect (unless the player of that Agent also was able to select Open to the Summons instead of a starting minor item). Similarly, two Orc or Troll characters with the Leader trait cannot be together in a company without using Orders From Lugburtz. Players who make a mistake in drafting may make adjustments to their starting companies using their draft pool cards. Once all starting parties have been verified as valid, all undrafted character cards are shuffled and placed in a Roving Character deck.
Step 5: Draw Your Hands
DARK ARDA is played with each player controlling two hands, each made up with different types of cards. The first hand is 8 cards from the Main Player Deck and it is called your Player Hand. The other hand is made up of 5 cards from the Marshalling Point Deck. It is called your Treasure Hand. Everyone is now ready to begin playing! (See special rules below for drawing less cards in the opening hand when playing either Ringwraith followers or Whispers of Rings.)
Special Rules During Play
Unused General Influence Rule
The Council of Elrond has a rule that says Minion Players have 25 general influence at the start of the game. Five of that general influence can never be used to control any characters, but the other 20 influence is. This rule remains in effect while playing DARK ARDA. Don’t forget the 5 unused general influence when calculating results of hazard cards like Muster Disperses.
Simultaneous Turns Rules
For information on how to run the game with two or three active players simultaneously, see pages 5 and 6 of the regular ARDA rules.
Prone To Violence Rule
At the beginning of the game, a copy of the Minion Resource card Prone To Violence is considered to be in play. This means that any company that does not contain a Ringwraith is allowed to attack other companies that don’t contain a Ringwraith. When someone draws an actual copy of the card, that person may immediately place the card into the general environment area and draw a new card to replace it. If someone removes Prone To Violence from play, attacking others is no longer an option until a new copy can be played from the Play Deck. You cannot play cards targeting and removing a Prone To Violence card from play until someone actually places the card into play.
Ringwraith Mode Rules
I mentioned this rule earlier. Each Ringwraith receives a copy of the three mode cards which can be played on it while at a Darkhaven. Changing from one mode to another requires being at a Darkhaven. A player can use each Ringwraith mode card as many times as he or she wishes.
Follower Ringwraith Rules
Certain Ringwraith abilities and some resource cards allow Ringwraith cards not being used by players to be used as followers. In all cases, the Witch King gets to make his selection first. Once he and Khamul have made all of their selections, any additional Ringwraiths can become followers to other players who play the resources necessary to recruit them. Follower Ringwraiths are not allowed in a starting company. One can be brought in on the first turn using the standard rules for adding characters to a party. Until Ringwraith followers are brought into play, they sit in the Player Hand taking up space that would otherwise be occupied by resource or hazard cards.
Remember, the wording on all Ringwraith mode cards require that Ringwraith followers be discarded upon returning to a Darkhaven site. During that players next turn, in the organization phase, he may again select any single unclaimed Ringwraith as a follower card and play it instead of drafting a character from the Random Character Deck.
Minion Agent Rule
Minion Agent cards may only be played as characters, never as hazard agents. The restrictions that only allow Minion Agents to be brought into play at a home site (unless you play Open to the Summons) is followed when playing DARK ARDA.
Rules for Whispers of Rings and The Ring Deck
In DARK ARDA, rings are very important things. They should also be very fun things to chase after. For these reasons we are playing with the minion resource card Whispers of Rings in the Minor Item Deck. Whispers of Rings is a permanent event available instead of minor item at the beginning of the game that allows the player who chooses it to play up to two ring items underneath it.
A player who selects Whispers instead of a minor item as one of their beginning items in Step 3 of The Game Starts, may, in Step 5, draw 2 cards from the Rings Deck and 3 cards from the Marshaling Points Deck, instead of their normal 5 cards from the Marshaling Points Deck at the beginning of the game. Both of those drawn ring cards may immediately be played under the Whisper card on the first turn. However, this player does not refill his Marshalling Points hand as normal until the end of his or her first turn as an active player.
During the normal course of play, players will acquire rings that they wish to test from the Marshalling Points Deck. Once a player tests a ring, that player makes a roll then turns over the top 4 rings of the Ring Deck. He or she may exchange the tested ring for any one of the revealed cards that applies. If the testing player also has a Whisper of Rings card in play, he can check those saved rings for a match as well. If there are no matches, the tested ring is discarded. After resolving a ring test the cards from the Ring Deck which were not selected are shuffled back into the Ring Deck. The unselected cards under a Whispers card remain there.
Rule for Resource Events in the Minor Item Deck
There are three Minion Resource Events that are part of the Minor Item Deck. They are Whispers of Rings, Orders from Lugburtz and Open to the Summons. Any of these three events that are not drafted during the initial company construction can turn up from the Minor Item Deck and can be claimed as though they were minor items.
• Whispers of Rings claimed as a minor item (by taping a character at a site where a minor item is playable) are immediately put into play unattached to a character. The player can then choose to draw from the Ring Deck when they would normally draw from the Marshalling Points Deck and place the ring or rings drawn under the Whisper card. That player does not refill his or her Treasure Hand to five cards until after his or her next turn.
• Orders From Lugburtz claimed as a minor item is immediately put into play unattached to a character. The player may immediately use it to get around the leader restriction to a company (use We Have Come to Kill to play a second orc leader into a company). Or the player may build a company next turn ignoring the leader restriction.
• Open to the Summons claimed as a minor item are immediately put into play unattached to a character. A player may draft a minion agent character from the Random Character Deck to a Darkhaven containing the Ringwraith during the players next turn. When that happens, attach the Open to the Summons card to the minion agent.
Sudden Call Rule
Finally each player is considered to have a copy of Sudden Call in their hand. This card remains in everyone’s hand until one player uses it to start the last turn. Sudden Call can be played as a resource by someone who has reached 25 marshaling points, or as a hazard during the movement hazard phase, when an opponent has reached 25 marshaling points but has not played Sudden Call.
After Sudden Call is played, everyone else gets one last turn before final marshalling point totals are determined.
Other Lidless Eye rules I sometimes forget about. The references are to the Middle Earth Lidless Eye Companion.
Start with up to six characters with a total of 20 mind (unlike Wizards which allows only 5 characters)
The maximum size of a company is seven characters.
Unless at a Darkhaven, Trolls and Orcs cannot be in the same company as an Elf, Dwarf or Dunadan character. (pg. 42)
Overt companies are those containing any Troll or Orc or a Ringwraith in fell rider mode. Ringwraiths in Black Rider or Heralded Lord modes are considered covert companies! (pg 24)
Trophies (page 44) are complicated. The # on the card taken as trophy determines what bonus is given. A character can only use one trophy at a time for its bonus. The value and benefits of the trophy are determined by the # printed on the card. Cards with a # and an * are still taken as trophies. They count as both Kill Marshalling Points and as trophies. They go to the Marshalling Point pile if the character it is attached to leaves play. 1 MP printed on the card = +1 Direct Influence; 2 MP = +1 Direct Influence and +1 Prowess (up to 9 max); 3 MP = +2 D.I. and +1 Prowess; 4 or more MP = +2 D.I. and +2 Prowess (9 max still applies).
If a minion character is eliminated due to a body check, one that character carried may be transferred to EACH unwounded character in the same party.
Unless at a Darkhaven, Ringwraiths cannot be in a company with other characters ((pg.24) If this happens, one company goes to the location it came from. The first hazard player gets to choose which company is placed back at the previous location.
Corruption checks for any minion in a Ringwraith’s company is made with a bonus of +2.
Don’t forget, allies can be tapped in support when it comes to defending a strike by an enemy.